What Could Have Been: Broken Arrow
by mon-petit-pois
Summary: Because no one goes through what Ziva did and magically comes out "fine." How was she able to wear that backless dress?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This one takes place in Broken Arrow, the second episode with Tony's dad. Ziva goes in undercover with him to this party.

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"You bought me a dress, Mr. DiNozzo?" Ziva asked, surprised. She took the garment bag from the old man. They were standing in the break room. Ziva had just gotten the memo about the undercover operation she was to go on with Tony's father.

"I figured it was the least I can do for a lovely lady like you," he shrugged, putting on his DiNozzo smile.

"Well, thank you," she replied, "But now I need to get back to work," she said, leaving the break room.

…

Ziva stood in the women's locker room, staring at the beautiful dress in her hands. They had about thirty minutes before they left for the undercover op, and she needed to get dressed and put on her make up.

However, she had frozen up when she pulled out the dress. It was beautiful, yes. Soft, and elegant.

But it was backless.

She couldn't believe she didn't think to check before hand. Now, she had no time to get another dress and was stuck with this one.

One that she couldn't wear.

She sighed, knowing that she had to do _something_ to fix this.

…

"Abby?" Ziva called over the music. The scientist whirled around, looking at her through her magnifying glasses.

"Ziva! What can I do for you? I heard you are going on a mission with Tony's dad! Aren't you excited? He's so cute-" Abby began to ramble, but Ziva cut her off.

"Abby, I need a favor," she said. Abby's smile didn't falter.

"Sure, what is it?"

"I may need to show you."

"Alright, then show me," Abby said, hopping down off her stool. Ziva sighed.

"It is not that easy... you are not going to like what you see," she told her. Abby's brow furrowed.

"Just tell me, show me, whatever it is you need to do."

"I... DiNozzo Sr. bought me a dress for our op tonight," she replied.

"Okay?"

"I can not wear this dress," she said, sadly. Abby was becoming confused.

"Why not?"

"Because... because it is backless. I can not wear a backless dress, anymore," Ziva said sadly.

"But... why?" Ziva sighed, she had hoped Abby would get it. Knowing she had no other choice, she turned around and lifted up the back of her shirt.

She heard Abby gasp.

Abby didn't know what to say. Covering her back, almost every inch of her back, were scars. Long scars, short scars, burn scars... and branded into her back, was the letter S.

S for Saleem.

Abby felt the bile rising in her throat. That sick bastard! How could he do that to her? How could anyone be so _cruel?_

"Now you see why I can not wear it. No one knows about these, except for you. I am supposed to look elegant tonight, and I am afraid these may blow my cover... and I do not think I could explain where I got them to everybody. Not over and over again," Ziva explained. Abby couldn't find her voice.

"I'm... it's... oh my god," she whispered, and walked over to Ziva, engulfing her in a hug.

"I do not want your pity, Abby. I just want your help. I do not know what I can do to fix this, and I was hoping maybe-"

"Have no fear," Abby said, turning around and running to her desk. She pulled out at least three tubes of cover up.

"I hope this works. Abby's rule number 9 is always keep a spare, and rule 10 is always keep a spare of the spare. And so on. So I have back up bottles like you wouldn't _believe._ I can make this all go away, at least for tonight," Abby proposed. Ziva's eyes lightened considerably, which didn't escape Abby's notice. Abby picked up a remote, and pressed a button, which locked all the doors in her lab.

"Now, take off your shirt and hop up on the table. I won't look," Abby instructed. Taking a deep breath, Ziva removed her shirt and laid down on her ballistics table. Ziva took deep breaths, struggling to remember that it was Abby standing above her. Just her friend, Abby, and no one else. No one was going to hurt her, not now. Not anymore. It was just Abby, trying to make life easier for her.

When Abby was done, Ziva was surprised. Her back looked flawless. She knew it would come off when she took a shower, but for now she would just pretend nothing ever happened.

"Thank you, Abby," Ziva said, gratefulness obvious in her eyes.

"That's what friends are for."

A/N: Forgive any mistakes I made regarding any makeup. I don't wear makeup, and I have no idea if cover up would actually work for this. But just pretend it would, for this sake. Please review and tell me what you thought of this! I just realized that there was no way she would have been able to wear a backless dress in broken arrow. The writers r so stupid. I'm not exactly sure how proud I am of this, it's just something I needed to get out of my system.


	2. Chapter 2

**I just posted the next part of the What Could Have Been series, called What Could Have Been: Jack Knife:) Enjoy!**


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